Locals light candles at the “Jardines de la Aurora” cemetery in Cali, department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia, on December 7, 2016, during the celebration of the Day of the Candles — one of the most important religious holidays in Colombia which marks the beginning of the Christmas holidays.
Photos and text by Barbara Haddock Taylor
James W. Hamlin, who grew up in the Druid Heights neighborhood, wanted to bring people back to Baltimore’s historic Pennsylvania Avenue. He hoped to provide the community with a valuable service and offer a unique product to entice visitors.
The result is The Avenue Bakery, which opened in the summer of 2011. The bakery makes cakes, pies, muffins, cookies, croissants and cobblers. By Thanksgiving of that year, word was out that the Avenue’s signature item, “Poppay’s” dinner rolls, were something unique. The rolls, which Mr. Hamlin has been making for around 20 years, were named by his granddaughter Bria.
Poppay’s rolls at Thanksgiving have quickly become a tradition for many Baltimore area families. They draw people from Virginia and Pennsylvania as well. Customers place orders well in advance, but the bakery also makes dozens more available on a first-come, first serve basis on the day before Thanksgiving.
Mr. Hamlin and his family and friends baked around 400 dozen rolls this week, working around the clock since Monday night. Jules Howie, a regular customer, picked up her rolls on Wednesday afternoon and said the bakery is “a treasure, a beacon of light in the community.”
Pictures from the 2016 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Lucy, not Charlie Brown, must have picked out the tree in Macy’s holiday window display. It’s big (compared to the characters, at least), shiny, and even has some pink in it, just like she asked for in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” In New York’s shopping district, many stores participate in the ritual of holiday season pageantry.
From Berlin to Kuala Lumpur and beyond, holiday lights illuminate city streets and homes across the globe..
More →
He goes by several names: Pere Noel, Babbo Natale, Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, to name a few. This time of year, Santa Claus is popping up across the globe from running in London to feeding fish in the Philippines to base jumping in Berlin.
Break out the colored powder: Holi, the annual festival of colors celebrated in India and Nepal, took place Monday to mark the start of spring. In India, crowds splashed powder known as gulal, and water on each other to celebrate the holiday.
Holiday light displays are going up in neighborhoods all around the Baltimore County area. Some are simpler, some are more elaborate and some — like Phil Hoesch’s display at his parents’ Cockeysville home — are coordinated to music played over a low-frequency radio signal. Watch the video below to see Hoesch’s display in action.
The annual “Miracle on 34th Street” display draws thousands of visitors to Hampden to see the spectacular holiday lights of the 700 block of W. 34th Street. Look through images taken by Baltimore Sun photographer Kenneth K. Lam, who this year documented residents setting up their decorations ahead of the grand lighting on Nov. 30.
On March 27, Hindus across India and the Indian diaspora will observe Holi, a festival that in part marks the beginning of spring. In celebration, Hindu devotees spend the day smearing colored powder on each other’s faces and throwing colored water at friends and family, leading to Holi’s status as India’s “Festival of Colors.”
Local Holi celebrations often begin earlier, including Lathmar Holi in the northern Indian town of Barsana. Unique to the Lathmar Holi tradition is a ceremony where women use long sticks to beat men who sing provocative songs to invite their attention.
Baltimore neighborhoods
Baltimore street photographers
Year in review
Freddie Gray: protests, aftermath
24 hours with...
A. Aubrey Bodine
Viewing Baltimore from above